The State Council, China's Cabinet, has issued a reform plan on the distribution of duties and powers among the central and local governments with regard to basic public services.

The plan concerns 18 basic public services, divided into eight categories, including compulsory education, social security, as well as affordable housing. For a long time, the responsibilities of central and local governments on these issues were not clearly distinguished, which resulted in lack of proper funding for public services in certain regions.

The reform plan distinguishes the roles of central and local governments and makes clear the division of funding that the central and provincial governments should undertake.

The implementation of the plan will be conducive to the equalization of basic public services throughout the country. Under the centralized and unified financial management system, the equalization of basic public services across the country is one of the basic goals of China's financial reform, and is also the inevitable requirement of public basic rights under the centralized unified management system.

Especially, by making clear the responsibilities of central and local governments, the plan will ensure that provinces with relatively bad economic conditions provide quality basic public services to local residents.

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